Our little community of San Clemente, Ecuador is located in the Province of Manabí. A province in Ecuador is similar to a state in the United States, but Manabí is about the size of a large county.
The capital of Manabí is Portoviejo. Portoviejo is located about fifteen miles inland from the beach along the Portoviejo river and was settled in 1535 by the Spanish as a port city in the rich farm land surrounding the river.
Portoviejo is the fifth largest city in Ecuador and has over 200,000 residents, but many of us in the ex-pat community in San Clemente think we know pretty much all about Portoviejo if we know where both the Super Maxi shopping center and the El Paseo shopping center are located.
Mary and I had lived here for many months before we ventured beyond the two shopping malls into the central area of downtown Portoviejo and even then I did not have my camera with me to take pictures of some of the “non-shopping” sites of the city.
Yesterday I went into Portoviejo to see a friend who was in the hospital and to look at some bicycles in the central area. For once, I remembered to bring my camera and determined to get some pictures in this city.
I got this picture from the bus that shows the welcome to Portoviejo signs and flags on the main roadway coming into the city from Manta.
Ecuador has worked for the last several years to improve the roadways in the country and the area now boasts modern roads with easy access between the major cities.
As one approaches the shopping areas close to downtown this large angel guards the intersection at a major crossroads.
I got off the bus by the angel and then called our friend, Roberth, to drive me into central to look at bikes. I told Roberth that I wanted to see some of the parks and statues in Portoviejo and he drove me first to a park alongside of the river.
He was pretty proud of the park as it is sponsored by the cooperative of taxi drivers to which he belongs.
As we went closer to downtown, Roberth got into the adventure and became quite the tour guide.
I have written previously about a museum of art and ancient artifacts in Portoviejo, but Roberth also pointed out this museum which has displays about the history of Portoviejo.
I asked him about the government buildings for Manabí and he showed me first the main government building.
And then the public defense center.
This is a beautiful little church located right next to the business district downtown.
And there is a large cathedral on the main road coming in from Crucita.
Roberth told me there is a large underground crypt beneath this cathedral where many prominent church and government people have been buried.
The city has countless small corner parks where people can be seen sitting eating lunch or visiting.
Along the roadway to Crucita for many blocks near the cathedral there is a wide median with scores of statues of past military and government leaders starting with this representation of a Spanish conquistador.
After driving down this roadway for a few blocks we spun back around to head down to central.
There is a large sports stadium just outside of downtown.
After Roberth dropped me off I walked around central area and scoped out many bicycle shops. I saw this small display honoring firefighters on an island median between two roads.
Probably my favorite park that we visited is called the Parque de Madres occupying an entire city block a few blocks from the cathedral.
The park celebrates motherhood and children with this unique statue of a woman breastfeeding her child. There are also other statues like this one of children playing leap-frog.
But I was most impressed with the beautiful rest areas and well-kept gardens.
Especially this large fan type palm tree.
I have seen these unique trees before, but this was perhaps the largest, most perfectly shaped tree like this that I have ever seen. I walked around to see it in its full peacock-like splendor.
So, there you have it – some different views of our Province’s Capital, Portoviejo. A full-service modern city with some very beautiful parks and monuments to serve its’ people here where…
Life is good in Ecuador.
Enjoyed your photos…but especially the statues and churches with the colorful roofs
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Glad you liked it! I was glad to finally have my camera for photos.
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The peacock palm is beautiful and I can see why you love that park. Thanks for the tour. Hope your friend is doing well.
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I have seen quite a few of those palms, but that one is so huge and perfectly formed. Glad you liked the tour.
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Always.
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John, it is so nice to see other pictures of these things in Portoviejo. All I ever see is Ferreterias iin El Centro. I’m so sorry that you didn’t show pictures of the traffic in El Centro. I can’t believe that I actually drive in it 3 or 4 times a week. 😉
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The traffic and overall blue collar feel to the town kind of leads one to believe that there are not so many beautiful spots in the city. It was good to take a minute to just see some of the sites.
Be careful driving there!
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We will have to make it a few days tour and enjoy the arts, parks and the churches, when we get settled in!!
Thanks for the photos!!
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Yes, also check out the post we did about the botanical gardens in PV. There are a lot of interesting things to see and do in Portoviejo. Oh Yeah – and the shopping!
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Parque de la Madre is my favorite place to escape after doing paperwork and traffic, it’s great to see that you have done a tour of the good things about this city. Very nice
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If we lived or worked in Portoviejo, I am sure that we would find a way to spend many lunch hours enjoying the tranquil beauty of Parque de la Madre. I would love to take a book and sit there all afternoon some day and soak up the atmosphere.
I am glad you liked the post – it was good to have the extra time to enjoy Portoviejo.
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I actually live in Portoviejo i am from Newcastle in the uk and been here coming up 6 years i love it here check out my blog http://ecuadorlivingparadise.blogspot.com/2016/01/ecuador-why-living-in-portoviejo-has.html
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I like Portoviejo very much. To me it is more of a “town” than Manta and has a lot to offer. I like the way the work crews have been working lately to improve the garden areas near the stadium and cathedral in the medians on the road with the statues.
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I think most of us are waiting for the date when this airport development happens the locals are excited about it, just hope they are not left disappointed.it´s good to see improvements being made, new hospital also in the process of being built near Ecua 911 it´s on the up
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Go Portoviejo!
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